This invention relates to a data processing technique, and more particularly, to an improved data processing method for supporting communications among two or more nodes on a network in a distributed computer environment.
There is a mobile agent technology in the art in which an internal condition is moved as it is to a place which is provided in a server existing on a network in a distributed computer environment to form an instruction in the place where it moved to. Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,031(PUPA 7-182174) and Fumihiko Nishida, Susumu Fujiwara et al""s xe2x80x9cLatest Internet Technology, special edition of Nikkei Communicationxe2x80x9d, pp 104-117, Nikkei BP.
Such mobile agent makes a contact to other agents in the moved-to place (a mobile agent or a resident agent) and may be served as appropriate. A place is a location provided by a server existing on the network to which the agent moved and which supports a contact among agents and absorbs the differences between the hardware and between the platforms.
The mobile agent technology enables a mobile agent to act as a proxy of a human being in handling jobs such as dynamically adjusting a schedule of internal meetings in compliance with the schedule of attendees and status of reservation of conference rooms and acquiring desired information distributed on the network.
In a prior art system (part of FIG. 10) which makes a contact between agents, a mobile agent 101 or a resident agent 103 (in general, an agent which requests a service is called a regular agent hereinafter), in requesting a service to service provider agents 131,133 which have an ability to provide a service, inquires of a facilitator agent 110 which maintains an agent community 150 residing in that place to find service provider agents 131,133 which have an ability of providing a service, and makes a contact to the service provider agents 131,133 based on the information obtained from the inquiry.
However, because a service provider agent residing in community 150 was registered in and maintained by the facilitator agent 110 in a form unique to each service provider agent, regular agents 101, 103 which desired to receive a service had to find service provider agents 131,133 having an ability to provide its own service from a list of agents which was received from the facilitator agent 110.
Also, the regular agents 101,103 had to inquire for each service provider that corresponds to respective service provider agents 131,133 from which the service is received.
Further, the regular agents 101,103 had to control themselves even in a stereotype processing and check the content and combination of requests depending on what request was directed to what service provider.
The regular agent had to build a desired process result based on the process result they received from each service provider.
Furthermore, it was necessary to expand functions of the facilitator agent 110, and maintain the facilitator agent 110 itself when attempting expansion of the service and halting the service in installation.
It is an object of this invention to provide a communication system which is capable of dealing with inquiries from agents flexibly, suitably and at high speed.
It is another object of this invention to provide a communication system which reduces the amount of load born by users of agents.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a communication system which absorbs the difference between service provider agents.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a communication system which enables a desired process result to be built based on a plurality of different process results received from each service provider agent.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a communication system which enables a high speed operation by distributing tasks.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a communication system which is highly expandable by dynamically installing various agents.
It is still a further object of this invention to reduce the work and the time required for developing and maintaining a program as much as possible in providing support to communication among agents.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a communication system which is capable of flexibly dealing with conversations among agents.
It is another object of this invention to provide a message processing system which gives less load to a communication network.
In this invention, a plurality of different broker agents such as 121,123 (see FIG. 1) are provided which are customized to problem areas for processing, such as distributing and integrating tasks which are the requests from regular agents. The broker agents 121,123 inquire of the facilitator agent 110, receive a list of service provider agents 131,133 which are relevant to their own jobs, and retain the list. The broker agent 121 which receives a message packet requesting a mediation of a job from the regular agent 101 determines the outline of the requested job by analyzing the message packet and sends it to a service provider agent which retains it as a list after certain conversion. The broker agent 121 receives a reply from the service provider agents 131,133 and transmits it to the regular agent 101 after certain conversion.
According to one aspect of this invention, a message processing method is provided for execution by an agent community which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said method comprising the steps of;
(a) receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) determining whether or not said received message packet conforms to a predetermined format,
(c) inquiring said facilitator agent to determine whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider classification information is available,
(d) converting said received message packet, and
(e) sending said converted message packet to the available service provider agent.
As used in the claims of this patent specification, xe2x80x9cconverting a message packetxe2x80x9d shall mean a concept which includes, beside replacing a part of data of a message packet (e.g., message type or ontology, in the preferred embodiment of this invention) with other data, extracting a part of data of a message packet (such as content in the preferred embodiment of this invention) and adding data to a message packet (including forward processing to generate a message packet which has a message packet in the preferred embodiment of this invention as a content).
As used in the claims of this patent specification, xe2x80x9csending a message packet to a service provider agentxe2x80x9d shall mean a concept which includes, for instance, not only sending from a sender directly to a service provider agent but also indirectly sending by utilizing other resources including a facilitator agent.
As used in the claims of this patent specification, xe2x80x9cservice provider agent specifying informationxe2x80x9d shall mean all information which enables access to a service provider agent and includes an agent name, object class name and address name as well as a combination thereof.
As used in the claims of this patent specification, xe2x80x9cservice provider agent classification informationxe2x80x9d shall mean all information which specifies the class of services provided by a service provider agent, and is a concept including all information which identify an interpreter, a translator, a conversation check routine, a format check routine, an interpretation execution routine and an execution routine that are held by a service provider agent. In the preferred embodiment of this invention, this is a concept which corresponds to an ontology information, a category information, a subcategory information, a message type information and a describing language information as well as a combination thereof.
According to another aspect of this invention, a message processing method is provided for execution by an agent community which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said method comprising the steps of;
(a) receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) inquiring said facilitator agent to determine whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider classification information is available, and
(c) sending a data which contains the content of said message packet to the available service provider agent.
According to still another aspect of this invention, a message processing method is provided for execution by an agent community which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said method comprising the steps of;
(a) receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent, and
(b) instructing a service provider agent which has a predetermined service provider agent classification information to send data including the content of said message packet to said facilitator agent.
According to a further aspect of this invention, a message processing method is provided for execution by an agent community which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said method comprising the steps of;
(a) receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) determining whether or not said received message packet conforms to a predetermined format,
(c) inquiring said facilitator agent to inspect whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider classification information is available,
(d) converting said received message packet so as to correspond to said available service provider agent, and
(e) sending said converted message packet to said available service provider agent.
According to a still further aspect of this invention, a message processing method is provided for execution by an agent community which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a broker agent which retains a broker advertise table for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information that specifies a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information, said method comprising the steps of;
(a) receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) determining whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information is available with reference to the broker advertise table, and
(c) sending the content of said message packet to said available service provider agent.
According to a further aspect of this invention, a message processing method is provided for execution by an agent community which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a broker agent which retains a broker advertise table for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information that specifies a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information, said method comprising the steps of;
(a) receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) determining whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information is available with reference to the broker advertise table,
(c) sending the content of said message packet to said available service provider agent,
(d) receiving a response message packet from said available service provider agent, and
(e) converting said received response message packet.
According to a further aspect of this invention, a message processing method is provided for execution by an agent community which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said method comprising the steps of;
(a) receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) analyzing said received message packet to determine the service provider agent classification information,
(c) specifying a service provider agent which corresponds to the determined service provider agent classification information,
(d) converting said received message packet, and
(e) sending said converted message packet to the corresponding service provider agent.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a message processing method is provided for execution by an agent community which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said method comprising the steps of;
(a) receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) analyzing said received message packet to determine the service provider agent classification information,
(c) specifying a service provider agent which corresponds to the determined service provider agent classification information,
(d) converting said received message packet,
(e) sending said converted message packet to the corresponding service provider agent,
(f) receiving a response message packet from said corresponding service provider agent, and
(g) converting said received response message packet.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a message processing method is provided for execution by an agent community which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said method comprising the steps of;
(a) receiving a response message packet from said plurality of service provider agents, said response message packet being a process result of a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) converting said received message packet, and
(c) sending said converted message packet to said regular agent.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a community system is provided which processes a message packet sent from a regular agent, said system comprising;
(a) a plurality of service provider agents for processing message packets,
(b) a facilitator agent for maintaining the service provider agent specifying information and the service provider agent classification information, and
(c) a broker agent for;
(c-1) receiving a message packet sent from said regular agent,
(c-2) determining whether or not said received message packet conforms to a predetermined format,
(c-3) inquiring said facilitator agent to determine whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information is available,
(c-4) converting said received message packet, and
(c-5) sending said converted message packet to said available service provider agent.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a community system is provided which controls a plurality of service provider agents for processing a message packet sent from a regular agent, said system comprising;
(a) a facilitator agent for maintaining the service provider agent specifying information and the service provider agent classification information, and
(b) a broker agent for;
(b-1) receiving a message packet sent from said regular agent,
(b-2) inquiring said facilitator agent to determine whether or not a service provide agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information is available, and
(b-3) sending data including the content of said message packet to said available service provider agent.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a community system is provided which processes a message packet sent from a regular agent, said system comprising;
(a) a plurality of service provider agents for processing message packets,
(b) a facilitator agent for maintaining the service provider agent specifying information and the service provider agent classification information, and
(c) a broker agent for;
(c-1) receiving a message packet sent from said regular agent, and
(c-2) instructing said facilitator agent to send data including the content of said message packet to a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information.
According to one of the aspects of this invention, an agent community system is provided, said system comprising;
a broker agent for;
(a) receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) retaining a broker advertise table for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information which specifies a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent information, among a plurality of service provider agents which process said message packets,
(c) determining whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information is available with reference to said broker advertise table, and
(d) sending data including the content of said message packet to said available service provider agent.
According to a further aspect of this invention, an agent community system is provided, said system comprising;
(a) a regular agent for sending a message packet and requesting to process said message packet,
(b) a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet,
(c) a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider specifying information and a service provider classification information,
(d) a broker agent for;
(d-1) receiving a response message packet from said plurality of service provider agents, said response message packet being a process result of a message packet sent from said regular agent,
(d-2) converting said received message packet,
(d-3) sending said converted response message packet to said regular agent.
According to a further aspect of this invention, an agent community system is provided which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet, and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider specifying information and a service provider classification information, said system comprising;
(a) means for receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) means for inquiring said facilitator agent to determine whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information is available, and
(c) means for sending data including the content of said message packet to said available service provider agent.
According to a further aspect of this invention, an agent community system is provided which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet, and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider specifying information and a service provider classification information, said system comprising;
(a) means for receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent, and
(b) means for instructing said facilitator agent to send data including the content of said message packet to a service provider agent which has a predetermined service provider agent classification information.
According to a further aspect of this invention, a message processor comprising an agent community system is provided which includes a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet, and a broker agent retaining a broker advertise table which maintains a service provider agent specifying information that specifies a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information, said system comprising;
(a) means for receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) means for determining whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information is available with reference to said broker advertise table, and
(c) means for sending data including the content of said message packet to said available service provider agent.
According to a further aspect of this invention, a message processor comprising an agent community is provided which comprises a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said processor comprising;
(a) means for receiving a message packet sent from said regular agents,
(b) means for analyzing said received message packet to determine service provider agent classification information,
(c) means for specifying a service provider agent corresponding to said determined service provider agent classification information,
(d) means for converting said received message packet, and
(e) means for sending said converted message packet to said corresponding service provider agent.
According to a further aspect of this invention, a message processor comprising an agent community is provided which comprise a regular agent for sending a message packet and requesting to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said processor comprising;
(a) means for receiving a response message packet from said plurality of service provider agents, said response message packet being a process result of a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) means for converting said received response message packet, and
(c) means for sending said converted response message packet to said regular agent.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a recording media is provided which stores therein a message processing program for execution by a message processor comprising a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said program comprising;
(a) a program code for instructing said message processor to receive a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) a program code for instructing said message processor to inquire said facilitator agent to determine whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information is available, and
(c) a program code for instructing said message processor to send data including the content of said message packet to said available service provider agent.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a recording media is provided which stores therein a message processing program for execution by a message processor comprising a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said program comprising;
(a) a program code for instructing said message processor to receive a message packet sent from a regular agent, and
(b) a program code for instructing said message processor to send data including the content of said message packet to a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a recording media is provided which stores therein a message processing program for execution by a message processor comprising a regular agent for sending a message packet to request to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a broker agent retaining broker advertise table which maintains a service provider agent specifying information that specifies a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information, said program comprising;
(a) a program code for instructing said message processor to receive a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) a program code for instructing said message processor to determine whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information is available with reference to said broker advertise table, and
(c) a program code for instructing said message processor to send data including the content of said message packet to said available service provider agent.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a recording media is provided which stores therein a message processing program for execution by a message processor comprising a regular agent for sending a message packet and requesting to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said program comprising;
(a) a program code for instructing said message processor to receive a message packet sent from a regular agent, and
(b) a program code for instructing said message processor to analyze said received message packet to determine the service provider agent classification information,
(c) a program code for instructing said message processor to specify a service provider agent corresponding to said determined service provider agent classification information,
(d) a program code for instructing said message processor to convert said received message packet, and
(e) a program code for instructing said message processor to send said converted message packet to said corresponding service provider agent.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a recording media is provided which stores therein a message processing program for execution by a message processor comprising a regular agent for sending a message packet and requesting to process said message packet, a plurality of service provider agents for processing said message packet and a facilitator agent for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information and a service provider agent classification information, said program comprising;
(a) a program code for instructing said message processor to receive a response message packet sent from said plurality of service provider agents, said response message packet being a process result of a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) a program code for instructing said message processor to convert said received response message packet, and
(c) a program code for instructing said message processor to send said converted response message packet to said regular agent.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a recording media is provided which retains a broker advertise table for maintaining a service provider agent specifying information which specifies a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information among a plurality of service provider agents which process message packets sent from regular agents.
According to still further aspect of this invention, a recording media is provided which includes a broker agent for;
(a) receiving a message packet sent from a regular agent,
(b) retaining a broker advertise table to maintain a service provider agent specifying information which specifies a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information among a plurality of service provider agents which process message packets,
(c) determining whether or not a service provider agent having a predetermined service provider agent classification information is available with reference to said broker advertise table, and
(d) sending data including the content of said message packet to said available service provider agent.